If a mid-nineteenth century Rip Van Winkle had gone to sleep in 1857, the
year of the Dred Scott decision, and awoke in 1877, it would probably take
him quite a while before he would believe reports of what had happened during
the years he was asleep. He would learn about a four year civil war that had
freed four million slaves and destroyed half the South's farm implements and
livestock; presidential assassination; ratification of constitutional
amendments abolishing slavery, guaranteeing equal rights, and extending the
vote to African Americans; presidential impeachment; and a disputed
presidential election. But when he looked around him, much would appear unchanged.
Southern representatives had returned to Congress, and they were similar to
those who had served before the war. In each of the southern states, the
Democratic party was securely in control. The overwhelming majority of
African Americans would still be living in the South, working as farm
laborers on land that they did not own.

Of course, our latter-day Rip Van Winkle would
eventually recognize that despite continuities, fundamental changes had taken
place. Chattel slavery had been defeated. The gang system of labor, enforced
by the whip, was dead. Incredibly, about twenty percent of African Americans
in the South managed to acquire land by 1880. And through the 1880s, sizeable
numbers of African American men in the South would continue to vote. Real
gains had been won, even though full equality remained an unfulfilled
promise.

Like an earthquake, Reconstruction shook southern
society's foundations than subsided. But it left the national landscape
forever changed. Out of Reconstruction came the first statewide public school
systems in the South as well as hospitals, penitentiaries, and asylums. The
first black institutions of higher learning were founded. Equally important
it was during Reconstruction that the institutional foundations of the modern
black community in the South were laid, including independent black churches
and a growing number of black landowners, businessmen, clergymen, and
teachers. With the passage of the 14th Amendment, mandating equal rights for
all citizens, and the 15th Amendment, forbidding states to deny the right to
vote because of race, the possibilities for later attacks on discrimination
had been established.

Reconstruction's failure also carried long-term negative
consequences. Racism became more deeply embedded in American society. The
South's economy became almost entirely dependent on a single crop, cotton,
and an increasing number of Southerners were reduced to tenant farming. One
political party, the Democratic party, monopolized political power. Violence
kept immigrants from migrating to the region. The roots of half a century of
southern poverty had been planted.